Billiard cue chalk having a scuffer with a scuffer guard

ABSTRACT

A cue chalk for billiards having a scuffer with a scuffer guard is disclosed. The cue chalk has a chalk body with a scuffer guard coupled to the chalk body. The scuffer guard has a raised lip that defines a recessed interior portion of the scuffer guard. A scuffing surface is located on the interior portion of the scuffer guard. Also, the scuffer guard can be provided separately from the cue chalk. In an alternative embodiment, the scuffer guard is formed integrally within the chalk itself and the scuffing surface is formed on a wrapper for the chalk. The wrapper substantially conforms to the recessed portion on the cue chalk.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/750,949, filed Dec. 16, 2005, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the accessories for the game of billiards and more particularly to a cue chalk having an integrated scuffer.

2. Background of the Related Art

Millions of people all over the world play billiards. Whether its pool, bumper pool, snooker or eight ball, these sports require the use of a billiard cue to play. A billiard cue has a tip on one end that periodically requires chalk be applied. Basically, every time the player shoots at the pool balls they need to apply chalk to the tip of the cue. However, the surface of the tip of the cue must first be roughened in order for the chalk to adhere to it properly. Roughening the tip of the cue is called “scuffing” and the tools used to “scuff” the tip are referred to as “scuffers”. During a match, it is very distracting and annoying if the player needs to go into their bag or to another area to scuff their cue tip.

Scuffers are well-known in the art and come in a variety of configurations. While many scuffers are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical unitary chalking and scuffing device for a billiard cue. Moreover, some scuffers if left out on a wooden surface (or other easily scratched material) of a table or the edge of a billiards table, may damage that surface inadvertently.

As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved chalking and scuffing device for billiards.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing a disposable cue chalk with an integrated scuffer that has a scuffer guard to prevent damage to scratch-prone surfaces and also presents an opportunity for promotional advertising. In particular, the cue chalk has a chalk body with a scuffer guard coupled to the chalk body. The scuffer guard has a raised lip that defines a recessed interior portion of the scuffer guard. A scuffing surface is located on the interior portion of the scuffer guard.

Accordingly, among the objects of the present invention is the provision for a billiards cue chalk that has a scuffer.

Another object of the present invention is the provision for a cue chalk with a scuffer that also has a guard to prevent the scuffer from damaging easily scratched surfaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the chalk and scuffer of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-section view of the preferred embodiment resting on a scratchable surface.

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first, and most preferred, embodiment of the present invention is shown generally at 10. The first embodiment 10 includes a substantially cube-shaped piece of chalk having gripping surfaces 12 on four of its sides and a chalk application surface 14 on another side (best seen in FIG. 2). The gripping surfaces 12 also provide a surface on which promotional advertising may be applied. Although, a cube-shaped piece of chalk is traditional and preferred, other geometric shapes could be used. For instance, the chalk could have a triangular, octangonal or round cross-section.

Opposite the chalk application surface 14 and on the remaining side of the cube-shaped piece of chalk, is a scuffer 16. The scuffer 16 has a raised lip 18 extending therefrom and defining an interior portion 20 of the scuffer 16.

Although a continuous raised lip 18 is shown, the raised lip 18 can be broken to form a number of legs. The interior portion 20 of the scuffer 16 has a scuffing surface 22 formed thereon. The scuffing surface 22 is made of an abrasive material designed to scuff the tip of a billiard cue. The scuffing surface 22 could be formed by a layer of sandpaper glued to the scuffer 16, but it is more preferable that an abrasive material is formed on the scuffer 16 during manufacturing.

The scuffer 16 can also be sold separately from the cue chalk. The scuffer 16 can be adhered to the cue chalk using glue or an adhesive tape.

The scuffing surface 22 preferably has concave-shape allowing for a more even “scuffing” of the tip of the billiard cue. The concave-shaped scuffing surface 22 has curvature that matches the curvature of the tip of a billiards cue, which is roughly a curve of a circle having a diameter of a nickel or about the diameter of 2.1 cm. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the raised lip 18 extends beyond the scuffing surface 22. This feature allows the present invention 10 to be placed with the scuffer 16 face-down on a scratchable surface 24 without risk of damage to the surface 24 because the raised lip 18 prevents the scuffing surface 22 from contacting the scratchable surface 24.

Referring to FIG. 4, a second embodiment of the present invention is shown at 100. Like the preferred embodiment 10, the second embodiment 100 includes a substantially cube-shaped piece of chalk having gripping surfaces 102 on four of its sides and a chalk application surface 104 on another side. The four gripping surfaces 102 in the second embodiment 100 present a surface on which promotional advertising may be applied to also. Like the preferred embodiment 10, other geometric shapes could be used for chalk of the second embodiment 100 instead of the traditional cube-shaped piece of chalk.

Opposite the chalk application surface 104 and on the remaining side of the cube-shaped piece of chalk, is a scuffer 106. The scuffer 106 has a raised lip 108 extending therefrom and surrounding an interior portion 110 of the scuffer 106. Although a continuous raised lip 108 is shown, the raised lip 108 can also be broken to form a number of legs. The interior portion 100 of the scuffer 106 has a scuffing surface 112 formed thereon. The scuffing surface 112 is made of an abrasive material designed to scuff the tip of a billiard cue. Preferably the scuffing surface 112 is made of sandpaper, although other materials could be used. However unlike the first embodiment 10, the scuffing surface 112 is substantially flat. Like the preferred embodiment 10, the raised lip 108 on the scuffer 106 of the second embodiment 100, prevents damage to scratch-prone surfaces by raising the scuffing surface 112 above the any surface prone to scratching.

Referring to FIG. 5, a third embodiment of the present invention is shown generally at 200. The third embodiment 200 includes a substantially cube-shaped piece of chalk having gripping surfaces 202 on four of its sides and a chalk application surface 204 on another side. The four gripping surfaces 202 in the third embodiment 200 present a surface on which promotional advertising may be applied to also. Like the preferred embodiment 10, other geometric shapes could be used for chalk of the second embodiment 200 instead of the traditional cube-shaped piece of chalk.

The cube-shaped piece of chalk is formed with a recessed portion 206 with a perimeter 207 on the remaining surface. The chalk is wrapped in a wrapper 208 that encloses the recessed portion, but leaves the chalk application surface 204 exposed. The wrapper 208 substantially conforms to the recessed portion 206 of the chalk. The wrapper 208 has an abrasive scuffing surface 210 formed thereon that coincides within the perimeter 207 of the recessed portion 206 of the chalk. When the chalk is place with the recessed portion 206 face-down on a surface, the scuffing surface 210 is elevated above the surface. In this manner, the chalk body itself functions as a guard to prevent the scuffing surface from contacting and possibly scratching the surface.

Therefore, it can be seen that the present invention provides a unique solution by providing a disposable cue chalk with an integrated scuffer that has a guard to prevent damage to scratch-prone surfaces.

It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be within the scope of the present invention except as limited by the appended claims. 

1. A cue chalk for billiards, comprising: a chalk body; a scuffer guard extending from said chalk body, said scuffer guard having a raised lip defining a recessed interior portion of said scuffer guard; and an abrasive scuffing surface located on said interior portion of said scuffer guard.
 2. The cue chalk of claim 1, wherein said scuffing surface is substantially concave.
 3. The cue chalk of claim 2, wherein said concave scuffing surface has a curvature that substantially matches a curvature of a tip of a billiards cue.
 4. The cue chalk of claim 1, wherein said scuffing surface is substantially flat.
 5. The cue chalk of claim 1, wherein said chalk body is substantially cube- shaped.
 6. The cue chalk of claim 1, wherein said scuffing surface is sand paper.
 7. The cue chalk of claim 1, wherein said scuffing surface is integrally formed onto said recessed interior portion of said scuffer guard.
 8. The cue chalk of claim 1, wherein said raised lip is continuous.
 9. A scuffer for cue chalk for billiards, comprising: a body portion having a raised lip defining a recessed interior portion of said body portion, said body portion configured and arranged to couple to a cue chalk; and an abrasive scuffing surface located on said interior portion of said body portion;
 10. The cue chalk of claim 9, wherein said scuffing surface is substantially concave.
 11. The cue chalk of claim 10, wherein said concave scuffing surface has a curvature that substantially matches a curvature of a tip of a billiards cue.
 12. The cue chalk of claim 9, wherein said scuffing surface is substantially flat.
 13. The cue chalk of claim 9, wherein said scuffing surface is sand paper.
 14. The cue chalk of claim 9, wherein said scuffing surface is integrally formed onto said recessed interior portion of said body portion.
 15. The cue chalk of claim 9, wherein said raised lip is continuous.
 16. A cue chalk for billiards, comprising: a chalk body having a recessed portion with a perimeter; a wrapper enclosing said recessed portion of said chalk body and leaving exposed a portion of said chalk body for applying chalk to a tip of a billiards cue, said wrapper substantially conforming to said recessed portion of said chalk body; an abrasive scuffing surface formed on said wrapper and within the perimeter of said recessed portion of said chalk body.
 17. The cue chalk of claim 16, wherein said recessed portion is substantially concave.
 18. The cue chalk of claim 17, wherein said recessed portion has a curvature that substantially matches a curvature of a tip of a billiards cue.
 19. The cue chalk of claim 16, wherein said chalk body is substantially cube- shaped. 